Genetically modified organisms: the side not revealed by science

The efforts on the part of Monsanto to introduce Roundup Ready (RR) soybeans into Brazil have been impeded since 1998 by court action by IDEC (a consumer rights organisation) and Greenpeace. The lack of toxicological studies concerning the specific environmental impact on Brazil is the main argument against the marketing of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the country. Being unable to carry out such a rapid diffusion of GMOs in Brazil, which is the world's second largest exporter of soybeans, has caused great uncertainty regarding the outlook for further investment in this kind of technology. The objective of this paper is to analyse the process of regulation of GMOs as an explanatory variable of the pace and the direction of technical progress. It is used as an element for the analysis of Monsanto's strategies for obtaining fast approval of GMOs in Brazil, as well as the tactics of resistance adopted by Brazilian pressure groups. This dispute reveals a fundamental aspect of the firm selection environment that has not been sufficiently tackled in economic literature. Emphasis is given to the relationship between political power and economic power in the creation and implementation of laws and norms affecting the pace and direction of technical progress.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recently published standard ISO/TR 19601:2017, “Nanotechnologies — Aerosol generation for air exposure studies of nano-objects and their aggregates and agglomerates (NOAA).” ISO states that, to evaluate the inhalation toxicity of NOAA, it is important to consider certain parameters that make the toxicity testing relevant to human exposure. Three critical aspects to consider when designing and conducting an inhalation toxicity study...

IntroductionAGRAGEL is a cross-linked copolymer of acrylic acid and acrylamide partially neutralized as potassium/ ammonium salt. The polymer is in its dry form a granulate and forms a gel-like material upon addition of water or aqueous solutions. Due to the cross-linking it is insoluble in water. Uptake of water is facilitated mainly by the negative carboxylic groups of the polymer and their hydration with water molecules. Complete solubilization is hindered because of the cross-linking of different polymer...

Pharmaceutical products (PPs) belong to emerging contaminants that may accumulate along with other chemical pollutants in wastewaters (WWs) entering industrial and/or urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). In the present study, the technique of ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry (Orbitrap-HRMS) was applied for the analysis of 24 multi-class PPs in WW samples collected at different technological stages of Daugavgriva WWTP located in Riga, Latvia....